Friday, November 27, 2009

A Massachusetts woman who recently separated from her husband, had her hours at work cut, and moved into an apartment, says an image of Jesus Christ she sees on her iron has reassured her that "life is going to be good."

Mary Jo Coady first noticed the image on Sunday when she walked into her daughter's room.

The brownish residue on the bottom of the iron looks like the face of a man with long hair.

The 44-year-old Coady, who was raised Catholic, and her two college-age daughters agree that the image looks like Jesus and is proof that "he's listening."

Coady tells The Eagle-Tribune she hopes her story will inspire others during the holidays. She says she plans to keep the iron in a closet and buy a new one.

Edgar Mueller receiving his record breaking certificate by Editor in Chief of Guinness World Records, Craig Glenday, as they stand in the middle of his gigantic anamorphic pavement art, outside the Westfield shopping centre in West London.

Indian sand artist Deeprak Chopra gives the finishing touches to a sand sculpture on Puri beach of Hotel Taj which he has made to pay tributes to the victims of the terror attacks in Mumbai in November 2009

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

A petrol station manager in Northamptonshire has been forced to keep jars of Marmite behind the counter after a spate of thefts of the spread. Police want to speak to a man in connection with the thefts.

Police are keen to speak to a suspect captured on CCTV after 18 jars, worth £50, were stolen from the Spar shop at Shell in Kingsthorpe, Northampton.

Manager Jim Keary said: "People come in and nick sandwiches and alcohol but Marmite's a strange thing to steal."

Not sure if you've noticed but it's getting cold outside in many regions. This means its soon to be winter and gloves are becoming, or very soon will become the norm. If you want to control your touchscreen phone without exposing your sensitive little hands, or paying for specialist gloves. Its simple! First borrow a needle, and get yourself some conductive thread.You won't need to be skilled at sewing to modify any type of glove and once you've done it, you will need to take the time to test out what works with your screen. Leave a big piece of thread or a big knot, inside the glove. This will give you the contact you need to have with your finger, but do limit the thread exposed on the outside to a tightly wound circle, about a quarter inch in diameter.If you are good with a needle, you'll likely be able to make the end result look like a circle or a heart! Awe! Don't go mad just make it neat(ish).If you are completely useless at it get your girlfriend or 'sensitive' boyfriend to take over the difficult bits, like threading the freakin' needle. Don't prick yourself!

At least one suspect was arrested following the release of the photo-fit, left. Though, in keeping with Bolivian laws, he could not be identified. Instead, media sites blocked his face with images of the bizarre photo-fit, right

A taxi driver, named in Bolivian media as Rafael Vargas, was murdered in what police said was either a drugs-related hit or a crime of passion.

In March, police found his body, which had been stabbed 11 times before being burnt.

Officials issued an appeal for help, and one neighbour drew a picture of what she believed the suspect looked like - though many other people have said her drawing resembles nothing more than the scarecrow from the Wizard of Oz.

The picture, more reminiscent of a child's school drawing than a piece of forensic evidence, consists of a pair of eyes, lopsided lips, a broomstick-shaped nose, and straight eyebrows topped with hair resembling a thatched roof.

A newsreader presenting the image on Bolivian television has become a Youtube sensation.

And while viewers have ridiculed the crudely-drawn image, it reportedly helped police arrest a suspect.

At least one suspect was arrested following the release of the photo-fit. Though, in keeping with Bolivian laws, he could not be identified. Instead, media sites blocked his face with images of the bizarre photo-fit.

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Ground crew wait next to a Thai Airways flight to Sydney at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport, the first international flight to depart after a week long antigovernment protest paralysed air travel on Dec. 3, 2008

We all know that flying with bags these days can cost you extra, but who knew how expensive it could get? One unlucky traveler got hit with an excess-baggage charge so outrageous, he may as well have bought his luggage its own seats on the flight.

The Complaint: Bob Wolfe and his wife were flying from Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport to Panama. At the counter, Wolfe was told that his four bags were each about 2 kg or 3 kg over the 32 kg limit, and that he'd have to pay a penalty.

Wolfe was sent to a Thai Airways office where he says a number of employees discussed how much he should be charged for the bags. They argued with each other. They made phone calls. They looked generally confused, he says. More than an hour later, a verdict was rendered: Wolfe owed 66,000 Thai baht, or approximately $2,200.

Anxious to catch his plane, Wolfe reluctantly coughed up the penalty, vowing to take up the case when he returned home. After exchanging numerous letters and e-mails with representatives of the airline, Wolfe is still unsure why he was charged so much, or how the confused employees arrived at the 66,000 baht figure. He says he has tried in vain to get an explanation or a partial refund on the bag charge.

The Outcome: Just for fun, the Avenger looked up where a person could fly for $2,200 from his home base in New York City — with or without bags. Hey, look! Auckland, New Zealand! Jakarta, Indonesia! Beijing, China — twice!

The Avenger contacted Thai Airways, and a rep provided the same letter that had been sent to Wolfe. It read, in part, "Any bag or piece which exceeds 32 kilos shall be charged at three times the applicable excess-baggage" charge of 5,500 baht. Huh?

There was no explanation of why Wolfe's bags were charged "three times" the regular excess-baggage penalty. Were they three times as heavy? Three times as ugly?

After a few weeks, the airline finally provided its overweight-baggage policy in writing. The explanation was that Wolfe was charged three times the normal fee because his bags were overweight and oversize. The policy, while confusingly written, seems to say that bags over 32 kg with total dimensions of more than 80 in. would get socked with a triple penalty.

Fine, except that Wolfe insists no Thai Airways employee ever measured his bags. So the Avenger had Wolfe do it, then sent photographs to the airline of the bags next to a tape measure. The first two bags each totaled 60 in., while the second two totaled 67 in. each. All four were under the 80-in. limit, and should therefore have not been charged the triple penalty.

The Avenger first contacted Thai Airways in August. It's now November, and the airline is still asking for more time to sort this out. Meanwhile, Wolfe remains confused as to exactly what he should have been charged.

If there's a lesson here, it's this: If an airline is going to hit you with an overweight-bag fee, ask to see its policy in writing and make sure airline representatives measure and weigh your bags in front of you. Oh, and if you're traveling to Thailand, pack light.

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Not a lot of people realise this, but there is a Microsoft equivalent of the Macalope. It’s true....

A mythical creature that represents the interests of Windows boosters, if you can imagine such a thing. He’s called the Winotaur—part Windows, part Minotaur—and the Macalope called him up the other day to talk about this video of employees dancing at a Microsoft Store.

Friday, November 20, 2009

Rome (AFP) Nov 18, 2009 - The Dalai Lama said Wednesday his death would be a "setback" for Tibetans' struggle, but that he was confident the next generation would carry on his torch. The 74-year-old Nobel peace laureate said his death would be a "setback, there's no doubt" but that the struggle was not that of "just one generation."

A "very, very healthy younger generation (is) now coming up with the potential to lead," the Buddhist leader told a news conference in Rome. The Dalai Lama was in Rome to attend the fifth edition of the World Parliamentarians Convention on Tibet, also attended by US actor Richard Gere, a longtime Buddhist and arch supporter of the Tibetan cause.

Speaking on the day after US President Barack Obama urged an early resumption of talks between Beijing and envoys of the Dalai Lama, the Buddhist leader said the US government had "consistently" supported the Tibetan people.

The White House has been "very sympathetic, very supportive," he said. "All administrations, whether Republican or Democrat, are concerned about human rights violations." "Understandably, there's limitations," he added with a laugh, in an apparent reference to the complex but key bilateral relationship between Beijing and Washington.

The Dalai Lama spoke out against Chinese "communist hard-liners (who) believe power comes from the barrel of a gun." He said Tibetans were "committed to non-violence, we are not seeking separation" -- Beijing's persistent charge. The Dalai Lama has been living in India since he fled Tibet following a failed uprising in 1959 against Chinese rule, nine years after Chinese troops invaded the region.

The Buddhist leader said his faith in the Chinese people had "never been shaken." He said that because of Chinese government "propaganda and censorship" many Chinese people "really developed anger towards us," adding that they "have the right to know the reality."

Thursday, November 19, 2009

The U.S. Postal Service is dropping a popular national program begun in 1954 in the small Alaska town of North Pole, where volunteers open and respond to thousands of letters addressed to Santa each year. Replies come with North Pole postmarks.

Last year, a postal worker in Maryland recognised an Operation Santa volunteer as a registered sex offender.

The postal worker interceded before the individual could answer a child's letter, but the Postal Service viewed the episode as a big enough scare to tighten rules in such programs nationwide.

People in North Pole are incensed by the change, likening the Postal Service to the Grinch trying to steal Christmas. The letter program is a revered holiday tradition in North Pole, where light posts are curved and striped like candy canes and streets have names such as Kris Kringle Drive and Santa Claus Lane. Volunteers in the letter program even sign the response letters as Santa's elves and helpers.

North Pole Mayor Doug Isaacson agreed that caution is necessary to protect children but he's outraged North Pole program should be affected by a sex offender's actions on the East Coast — and he thinks it's wrong that locals just found out about the change in recent days.

"It's Grinchlike that the Postal Service never informed all the little elves before the fact," he said. "They've been working on this for how long?"

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

It’s not just NASA that’s hip to the social media game anymore. Now, the Russian space agency Roscosmos has one of its own blogging from the International Space Station.

The blog, as translated by Russia Today, includes pictures from the ISS — and covers a much different array of topics than you usually see in NASA press releases or Twitter feeds. A recent post detailed the “holy symbols” in the Russian area of the station, illustrated by photos of icons and crucifixes floating in zero gravity.

“We have four holy icons on the Russia segment. We also have the gospels and a big cross,” wrote Maksim Suraev. “And I have a reliquary cross in my cabin. A priest gave it to me at Baikanur before the launch. Father Job told me a piece of the original cross on which Jesus was crucified is contained in mine.”

Not exactly what you’d find NASA astronauts like Mike Massimino writing about, and that’s exactly what makes the reflections worth reading. We tend to receive our vision of space exploration through the American lens, so it’s great to get some outside perspective on what’s going on up there. And Suraev’s site really feels like someone’s blog.

He even injects some dark, faux Cold-War humor into his writing. Take, for example, his description of the photo above.

“In the photo I’m holding the latest gadget developed by our military. The device works in two modes. One allows eavesdropping on our colleagues in the American segment. You can … record all their conversations. Also, the device can be used for martial arts training — to be prepared for an alien attack on the Russian segment of the ISS,” he wrote last week. “Guys, it’s just a joke, I hope you realize! It’s not some weapon or a spy gadget. Just an old pump that Roma and I replaced!”

GHB is a very popular party drug; easy to get or to make at home, it is freely and cheaply available on the internet but if GHB was deemed harmless ten years ago, health workers are seeing more and more addicts with serious withdrawal symptoms.

Gammabutyrolactone (street name: GBL) is used to remove graffiti, grease, rust and glue.

It can also come in handy to clean car rims, the website www.bestel-gbl.nl (order GBL) informs visitors. The contact number is a mobile phone, and the delivery service is available 24/7.

But who has ever had a car rim emergency in the middle of the night? The vendor isn't the least bit surprised when a reporter calls from Amsterdam and says she is willing to travel to Uden, a 120 kilometres south, for a quarter liter of cleaning product. "Like alcohol but without the hangover"

The agreed meeting takes place at a windy industrial lot where army fighter planes constantly break the sound barrier overhead. After 30 minutes a girl drives up in a green Peugeot. She has a plastic bottle with her. That will be 25 euros. Cash. Why is she selling a cleaning product in a secluded spot? There has been trouble, she says, with the father of a boy who took to drinking the stuff undiluted. It's better to brew up GHB with it, is her advice.

The recipe is simple enough. You will need some car rim cleaner, demineralised water and oven cleaner. Mix them up in the proper quantities and there you are: liquid GHB.

'Dramatic' rise in the number addictsGHB is short for gamma-hydroxybutyrate, a naturally-occurring substance found in the central nervous system. In the sixties it was used as a narcotic until that practice was discontinued because of side-effects. More recently it has become a fixture in certain party scenes. In Amsterdam the emergency services are called for GHB cases more than for any other illegal drug. The number of GHB interventions has almost doubled from 69 in 2001 to 128 in 2008.

The short term risks of GHB are nausea, memory loss or even a coma in case of an overdose. People have been known to suffocate from their own tongue or vomit. Serious breathing problems can occur. Twitching in the limbs or the face has been reported. If it is mixed improperly it can burn the mouth, the oesophagus and the stomach.

The long-term effect can be addiction. In 1999 the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) said there was little to no chance of getting addicted either physically or mentally to GHB. But ten years later Trimbos, the National Institute of Mental Health and Addiction, is sounding the alarm.

Cheaper than alcoholHealth care workers are reporting a 'dramatic' rise in the number of GHB addicts, with serious withdrawal symptoms such as anxiety, tremors, motor symptoms, insomnia, aggressiveness, and psychotic symptoms such as hallucinations, paranoid delusions and delirium.

Dick, a 27-year-old GHB user from Amersfoort who spoke on the condition of anonymity has experienced the withdrawal symptoms firsthand. "I felt awful, so awful that I felt like I was going to faint at any moment. Sweating, palpitations. I would think: I'm not going to make it today."

But Dick also remembers the positive effects. "It did make me feel pretty good. A kind of peace comes over you. You see only the bright side of life. You're much more social."

Many users speak of a euphoric, relaxed feeling. Fears and inhibitions disappear. People get talkative and often sexually aroused. That makes the GHB rush similar to an alcohol rush, but without the hangover the next day. It is also cheaper than alcohol.

For sale on eBayUnlike other illegal drugs it is also very easy to get. Party web sites give out the email addresses and mobile phone numbers of GHB dealers. You can even get it on marktplaats.nl, the Dutch version of eBay.

It is even easier to make it yourself. There are plenty of recipes on the internet, and all the ingredients can be bought over the counter. Demineralised water is available at most petrol stations. Sodium hydroxide can be bought in the form of cleaning products at any drugstore, and Gammabutyrolactone (GBL) or can be ordered online. But the GHB end product itself has been illegal in the Netherlands since 2002.

People who don't want to go to the trouble of making GHB can also drink the car rim cleaner GBL in pure form: GBL is then transformed into GHB inside the body. Or they can buy a 5-millilitre container on the market for 5 euros. A normal shot of GHB is 1 to 2 millilitres and is enough for a two-hour rush.

Lieuwe (36) from Weesp likes to take 5 to 7 millilitres at a time. He has been using GHB for five years on a weekly, sometimes daily basis. He likes to mix his homemade GHB in a glass with lemonade concentrate. "Pomegranate is the best."

He drinks the mixture with small snips, sitting on the couch in his living room. "Other people like to have a glass of wine. Me, I have a drink of GHB."

Greenpeace activists board the transport ship The Happy Ranger near Oland, Sweden. The ship is carrying major components intended for the Olkiluoto 3 nuclear reactor currently under construction in Finland

Monday, November 16, 2009

Rosetta's OSIRIS imaging system spotted an anticyclone over the South Pacific on the morning of 13 November. The images show the scene roughly as a human eye would see it.

Cloud structures over the South Pacific, seen with the OSIRIS Imaging System’s narrow-angle camera on 13 November at 06:48 CET. The clouds are part of an anticyclone that is visible close to the centre of the image below.

This false-colour composite was generated from the orange, green and blue optical colour filters. It depicts a portion of the scene below with five times the resolution.